


The Top 40 (2009)

by yourealliwant



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: angst? sorta?, past Kent "Parse" Parson/Jack Zimmermann
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:16:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 756
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourealliwant/pseuds/yourealliwant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>2009: Kent's got a pre-game ritual that involves too much Miley Cyrus and makes him feel like he could win it all. It works every time.<br/>2014: In some ways, Kent's pre-game ritual is still the same. When Kent ends up thinking about the ways that it's different, it's easier to pretend that nothing about it has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Top 40 (2009)

**Author's Note:**

> [originally posted on tumblr !](http://http://bitsbaby.tumblr.com/post/149498568919/the-top-40-2009-what-the-fuck-is-this-shit)
> 
> a special shoutout to all the people that reblogged/liked the tumblr version :")
> 
> the characters and universe that this was written in do not belong to me and belong to Ngozi Ukazu; [read the webcomic](http://omgcheckplease.tumblr.com) !! :D

“What the fuck is this shit? _Party in the U.S.A_?” Jeff lets out a noise that sounds like it’s half-way between a cackle and a choke. Kent looks away from the road just in time to see Jeff’s face in the middle of the ugliest laugh he’s ever seen.  “Man, you really had us thinking you listened to some Kanye West shit pre-game! Definitely not this bubblegum pop business, that’s for sure.”

“Shut your fuckin’ mouth, Jeff. You’re acting like I haven’t seen all the Justin Bieber you’ve got on your own stupid phone.” Kent has barely come to a stop at the red light before he’s leaning over the console. “Gimme that,” Kent wrestles his phone out Jeff’s willing hands. “Clearly, you’re too uncultured to recognize musical genius when you hear it, loser.”

Kent looks over at Jeff again and grins, hopes that the lame chirp helps loosen the sudden tightness in his chest. Jeff’s having none of it though, his eyes slightly narrowed and his head titled like a dog. “Why d’you have a playlist of 2009′s top forty, anyways? That’s a little weird, bro.”

Kent readjusts his grip on the wheel, tightens his hands, loosens them, the leather of it shifting and squeaking quietly the whole time he does. “You mean, no one else has a playlist for their draft year?” Kent scoffs, feeling himself get defensive. “It’s not _that_ weird, asshole. Plenty of people probably do that. Hell, there are playlists for everything these days.” It’s a poor attempt at a deflection and Kent knows that.

“Yeah but..” Out of the corner of his eye, Kent can see Jeff open and then close his mouth once or twice, like he has more to say but doesn’t want to say it. Kent steps on the gas a little, signaling left so he can change to the fast lane. He would rather be caught dead than have this conversation right now. Jeff opens his mouth again. “No one’s ever had a draft year that was anything like yours, Parse.”

Kent takes a deep breath, in through his nose and out again, trying to forget every single image that flashes through his mind because of Jeff’s big-fucking-mouth. The swirling’s back in his stomach again, like it never left in the first place, dark and ugly and threatening to swallow everything else whole and leave nothing behind.

They hit another red light, and Kent only has to close his eyes for a split second before he’s back. Back in another time, a different car, and with someone else behind the wheel, driving carefully to the arena with a soft smile on his face. The rasp in his throat is back too, from shouting out the lyrics at the top of his lungs. He can feel the anticipation and nervousness and excitement thrumming beneath his skin like it had back then too.

It sizzles away a moment later, all of it, like everything else eventually does in the Vegas heat.

“Kent. Kent, buddy, c’mon. The light’s green.” He’s snapped out of it by Jeff, who’s urgently shaking his forearm, probably spurred into action by the annoyed honks from other cars behind them.

“Ah shit, sorry.” The rumble of the car underneath Kent is grounding, almost.

Kent drives along in silence for a little longer, mechanically changing lanes and taking turns, letting his brain work on autopilot for a bit. He’s about to pull into the parking lot of the T-mobile arena when Jeff finally decides to speak up again. “So about tha-”

“Yeah, could we maybe drop that?” Kent says, cutting him off, and he sounds so tired. So fucking tired. “I meant to get rid of that shit ages ago anyway.”

Jeff still looks a little wary when he gets out, but he comes around to the other side of the car anyway so he can clap a hand on Kent’s shoulder and squeeze. The gesture’s too familiar, and Kent has to stop himself from shrugging it off. “Alright, Parse. Let’s go play some good fucking hockey, okay? Sorry, if I ruined your pre-game ritual or anything.” At least, Jeff has the decency to look a little bit sheepish about the latest events, but Kent doesn’t let him wallow in it for too long.

What Kent says is: “Nah, it’s fine bro. No biggie.”

What Kent doesn’t say, let alone bring himself to even think about saying, is: “It was ruined for me a long time ago. It hasn’t been the same since.”

**Author's Note:**

> ALL I WANTED WAS TO WRITE KENT BEING HAPPY AND SINGING "PARTY IN THE U.S.A." BUT THIS IS WHAT CAME OUT. I DON'T KNOW WHAT WENT WRONG ! D;
> 
> (ok so i'm not sure if i want to write a full fic around this and then just make this little ficlet a scene within it? for some unknown reason, i have this Overwhelming urge to write about Kent in vegas and ... i honestly know so little about hockey and i've only been to vegas once in my life so like, what do i know?? nothing at all! also i've never written a proper fic in my whole entire life?? how does one even do that?? what is "planning"?? i've never heard of such a thing ... anyways)
> 
> i figured i would start keeping track of my writing -- no matter how small the word count is -- since i hadn't done that for my last fandom (regrets .. so many regrets ...) so this is the first thing that i've posted on my ao3 account despite making it a long time ago ;P
> 
> thanks for reading !! kudos and comments are Greatly appreciated !! :-)
> 
> [come talk to me !](http://bitsbaby.tumblr.com)


End file.
